1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a simply constructed and adaptable exercise system. More specifically, this invention is directed to an exercise system readily adaptable to suit a user's physical condition and unique bodily dimensions.
The extent to which the general public values physical fitness is indicated, among other things, by the proliferation of exercise machines and devices presently available on the market. Such machines and devices vary greatly in form and function. They can nevertheless be grouped somewhat generally into: (1) equipment designed to stimulate and stress the user's entire body for calorie-burning aerobic exercises, and (2) equipment designed to strengthen and tone specific muscles or muscular regions of the user's body.
2. Prior Art
Within the class of equipment designed to strengthen and tone the user's body, a wide array of machines and devices are known and available. From multi-station home gym machines to simple, versatile multi-exercise devices such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,681 issued to Applicants; equipment of the type which generates a resistive force when a displacement force is imparted thereon by certain muscles or muscle regions of the user's body are well known in the prior art. There are, however, few if any machines or devices intended specifically to isolate and acutely exercise the muscles in the user's gluteal region.
Although many of the known machines and devices necessarily invoke the exercise of the user's gluteal muscles during their use, they do so only as a byproduct of their primary intended function. Even in those cases where exercise of the user's gluteal muscles is, indeed, the primary function intended, the prior art has failed to adequately isolate the gluteal muscles for exercise, allowing the undesirable contribution of other muscles to the exercise performed. This greatly diminishes the efficiency of the exercise for those with limited time and energy to devote to exercising, who nonetheless wish to rapidly strengthen and tone their gluteal muscles.
The efficiency of exercise provided by a particular machine or device does not depend on its functional design alone. It depends also on the degree to which that machine or device conforms to the physical traits of the given user. For instance, the machine or device would be of limited utility, if any, were it not adequately dimensioned to accommodate the length of the user's limbs. Similarly, the machine or device would be of limited utility, if any, were the magnitude of resistive force it applied responsive to the user's exertion of force either too great to permit the user to effect the full range of required exercise movement, or too low to offer any form of meaningful resistance during that exercise movement.
Thus, there is a need for an exercise system that effectively isolates and exercises the muscles in the gluteal region of a user's body. There is also the need for the device to be readily adjustable so as to be quickly and conveniently adaptable to the unique physical traits of the given user.